‘Real Steel’ Trailer Mixes Family Drama and Robot Action

Usually we’re pretty unified in regards to our respective tastes amongst the Screen Rant staff, but every now and then a film comes along that splits us right down the middle.

Director Shawn Levy’s (Night at the Museum) upcoming sci-fi/drama Real Steelhas been one such divisive film: half of us feel believe the director’s promise that the movie is a mix of action and genuine heart, while the other half believe (as many causal movie goers do) that this is simply ‘Rock ’em, Sock ’em Robots: The Movie.’ (Better get used to that joke, you’ll be hearing it A LOT as this film makes it way to theaters.

The Real Steel teaser trailer didn’t help matters much – it basically painted the story as being about a washed-up boxer (Hugh Jackman) who uses a robot fighter to take his last shot at glory. When you think about it like that, those’Rock ’em, Sock ’em Robots’ jokes suddenly seem valid.

However, today we have the full Real Steel theatrical trailer, which finally offers a look at dimensions of the story that were altogether missing from the teaser: namely the relationship between Jackman’s character, Charlie Kenton, and his estranged son, Max (Dakota Goyo). As the trailer below reveals, it’s Max who actually dreams of creating a champion robot fighter, with Charlie using his fighting skills to help make his son’s nigh impossible dream come true, while also bridging the divide between them. When you take that human story into count, suddenly there’s more to this film than initially meets the eye.

Check out the Real Steel theatrical trailer below:

Switching topics (slightly): It’s long been a complaint amongst fans that Michael Bay’s Transformersmovies have lacked the necessary heart needed to bolster all the robot mayhem and cheesy humor. If anything, Bay’s films have used the human protagonists as a way of cutting costs on CGI effects – a price tag that would be much higher if the Transformers films focused more on the robots than the humans.

That said, Real Steel faces a danger of its own: that the father/son drama at its core will be uninteresting or flat, punctuated by brief respites of robot action. On the other hand, similar to early impressions of J.J. Abrams’ upcoming sci-fi/drama film Super 8, Levy may have a story on his hands that is genuinely engaging, fun, and even moving – in the same vein of classic Steven Spielberg sci-fi/dramas (see: ET).

One thing’s for sure at the moment: news that a sequel is already being developed certainly suggests that the studio believes that Levy has made a worthwhile film. I guess we’ll know for sure if the drama and action work cohesively when Real Steelis released in theaters on October 7, 2011.